I'm beautiful in my way'Cause God makes no mistakesI'm on the right track baby I was born this wayDon't hide yourself in regret Just love yourself & you're setI'm on the right track baby I was born this way

A/N: So, I’m terrible and I take forever to update lol. Profuse apologies again for how long this took. In my defense, we had 3 weeks of horse shows in a row and I went to a 4th one out of the country during that time. So I was legitimately busy. I still should have started on this earlier though, so for that I’m sorry.

As always, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and favourited this story. I still can’t get over how well my first attempt at a Castle fic is going over. Now, as a warning, POV is going to be jumping around a bit in this chap. I debated a lot about what direction to go with this chapter and I’m still not sure that I’m 100% happy with it, but I’m hoping you’ll like it.

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A knock at the door broke Lanie’s mindless state of channel surfing. Aside from boring talk shows and sports games, she was discovering how truly little variety there was in weekend daytime television. Hauling herself up out of her comfy spot on the couch, she trudged over to the door and peered through the peephole, where she was met with the worried face of Richard Castle. Crap. When she said to fix it, she didn’t mean come over right this minute and fix it. This was so not going to go well, and then she was going to get hell for inadvertently inviting him.

With a sigh, she swung open the door. “Castle, what are you doing here?”

“I brought food”, he replied innocently, holding out a bag of Chinese takeout.

She was skeptical, but she had to give writer boy some credit: the promise of food sounded really good right now. Reluctantly she stepped aside and granted him entrance.

“If I learned anything from the one night I spent here,” he continued, “it’s that there is absolutely nothing edible in that fridge, and absolutely nothing period in the cupboards.”

That much was certainly true. She was starving but she didn’t trust any of the suspicious looking takeout containers in the fridge. God only knew how long they had been there, so she gratefully accepted the bag from Castle and returned to her spot on the couch.

“Can’t argue with you there. Thanks, Castle.”

“So… where is she?”

She looked up at him warily. “In her room.”

He paused momentarily, his voice hesitant when he spoke. “Can I talk to her?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea right now; she’s barely talking to me and I didn’t do anything.”

“You said to fix it.”

Living with two women, she thought he’d have a better idea of how women work. “I didn’t mean to come riding in on your white horse in a couple hours and profess your love to her!”

“Who says I was going to do that?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay fine, maybe I was. What do you suggest I do instead then?”

“I honestly don’t know Castle. Believe me, I wish I did. I hate seeing her like this and you know I’ve always been pulling for you guys, but I really don’t know.”

He raked his hand through his hair anxiously, dropping into the seat beside her. “I didn’t even know there was anything left to screw up, and yet I still managed to screw it up.”

“I tried to make the argument that you didn’t know, but she didn’t want to hear it.”

“No, she’s right. It is my fault. I only asked Gina to come for the summer because I didn’t want to stay and see her with Demming. It was dumb and immature, and I wish more than anything that I hadn’t done it. I should have just planned to go alone with my stupid wounded pride and finish the book on my own. Then we never would have been interrupted, and none of this would have happened.”

“You’re not psychic Castle, you couldn’t have known she’d come around.”

“Yeah but it’s my fault I was a jerk when she did.”

They were silent for a minute before he jumped up off the couch.

“I have to talk to her.”

“If that’s what you really want to do, I won’t stop you, but I’m going on the record saying this is a bad idea.”

“No, Gina was a bad idea. This is not a bad idea… maybe not a great idea, but certainly not the worst I’ve had lately.”

She just shook her head and watched him disappear into the hallway.

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Rick hesitantly knocked on the bedroom door, fiddling with his hands while he waited for a response. He felt weird not bringing anything with him. Normally he would have accompanied an apology of this magnitude with flowers, but after walking into the florist’s shop he decided it was probably best if he didn’t give her anything she could throw at him. Unable to think of a piece offering that he wouldn’t mind having thrown at him, he had come empty handed. With the exception of Lanie’s food of course.

Having received no answer, he knocked again, but he was still met with only silence. With a sweaty palm, he reached out and gently turned the knob, nudging the door open. She was laying on the bed, her back to him.

“Kate?” he asked softly.

She spun around instantly, shoving something behind her, but not quickly enough for him to miss the words “HEAT WAVE” disappearing under her pillow.

“What are you doing here?”

He couldn’t pinpoint the look in her eyes, and that scared him. “I came to see you.”

“I thought you went to the Hamptons.”

“I did.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Like I said, I came to see you.”

“I’m sure Gina was happy about that”, she said coolly.

“She understood.”

“How did you know I’d be here?”

Uh oh. “I, uh, talked to Lanie.”

“You called her?”

“No.”

Her voice was beginning to rise. “She called you?”

“She thought I should know a few missing details about the other day.”

“Like?”

“Like how you broke up with Demming… and what you were really going to tell me before Gina showed up.”

Her jaw dropped and her face flushed with both embarrassment and anger. “Well, that was not her information to share, so I’d appreciate it if you forgot what she said.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you broke up with him?”

“I didn’t have the chance!” she snapped. “In case you forgot, your ex-wife showed up a minute into the conversation and happily informed me that she was going with you to the Hamptons! What the hell am I supposed to say after that? You think I’m supposed to tell you I broke up with Tom because I want to go with you while she’s standing right there and all my friends are listening through the door? Oh that wouldn’t be awkward or humiliating at all, to be rejected in front of a crowd.”

“Kate, I would never reject you.”

“That’s kind of hard to believe with another woman on your arm and you’re going on about how you talked with her for hours just like old times, and now you’re going away with her for the summer.”

“I only asked her because you had plans and I thought that ‘we’ were out of the question!”

“Well you didn’t waste any time moving on, did you?”

He sighed. “Kate, I’m sorry, okay? I’m so sorry. You have no idea how badly I wish I could go back and redo that day. But I can’t. I’ll do anything to make it up to you. I mean it, anything. I need you.”

She glowered back at him. “You don’t need me. You have enough research and you have plenty of other women to be your ‘muse’. Just get out Rick. Go back to the Hamptons and your ex-wife.”

“Kate – ”

“I don’t want to hear it, Rick. I want you to leave now.”

“Fine. If that’s really what you want, I’ll go.”

The hurt was evident on his face, but it wasn’t enough to make her change her mind. “That’s what I want.”

He nodded sadly and retreated to the door, glancing over his shoulder one last time before stepping out and closing it behind him. “Goodbye, Kate.”

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Lanie could hear muffled shouting through the walls and she listened carefully for the sound of objects being thrown, but thankfully she heard none of that. The voices disappeared with the click of a door closing, and Castle reappeared in the living room. He looked terrible, and he didn’t even acknowledge her presence. He simply walked right by, out the front door, and was gone without a word. She knew this was a bad idea.

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A/N: Okay, I know I’ve said this before lol, but I’m really going to try and update faster. I actually have the next chapter planned out, which is half the battle, so it shouldn’t take me as long. I also have 2 weeks off from horse shows, which is immensely helpful. Just as a heads up, the next chapter will likely be the last. We will also be moving up to M, which I’m always very nervous about btw. I’m not sure if I’ll move the actual story to M or just leave it where it is and put a warning at the beginning, so make sure you check the M rated fics if you don’t see it.